“I urge you to read this petition and take seriously the concerns that we have,” Calise told selectmen.

Petitioners’ primary concern is that the project moved forward as a Local Initiative Plan before they were invited to give input.

“A LIP greases the wheels for a proposal like this to just slip right through,” Calise said. “It makes it so much more difficult for us to oppose this. We have a lot of feedback to give, but we feel our hands are tied.”

In the LIP process, developers propose a plan to selectmen, who then endorse it before it is submitted to the state for approval.

Several weeks ago petitioners requested to formally negotiate with the zoning board of appeals and Lucier through a series of workshops, as plans for the development proceed. The first workshop was to have taken place before the next ZBA meeting on October 26, but so far a workshop date has not been set.

The state approved Lucier’s Campbell Hill Estates project several months ago as Chapter 40B housing. Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40B requires each community to set aside at least 10 percent of its housing stock as “affordable.” Rutland currently claims 3.7 percent of its housing stock affordable. The state gives each community criteria to determine affordability.

Campbell Hill Estates calls for 40 units on 77 acres. The state requires that 25 percent of the units be deemed affordable for life. Lucier will sell those 10 units for $146,000; the remaining units will cost between $260,000 to $300,000 each.

“You won’t be able to tell from the outside which ones are affordable and which ones aren’t,” Lucier said in an interview. “The differences are inside.”

The colonial-style townhouses will have garages and gabled roofs. “It doesn’t look like Great Brook Valley or anything like that,” he said. “Affordable housing is not low-income housing. It’s not for people on food stamps or welfare. It’s for patrolmen or highway workers or factory workers. It’s for those people who can’t afford to live in town. This way they can stay in town. But they still have to be able to qualify for the loan.”

Lucier’s project is considered a “friendly” 40B. In other words, he met with the planning board, selectmen, the ZBA, and the fire chief when drawing up his plans.

“They all said, ‘we want this, it’s a good thing for the town,’” Lucier said. “We have all of their approvals, and the state found this a good, viable project.”

Petitioners are concerned that the site is not big enough to accommodate the project. Lucier plans to build one unit per 1.7 acres and said he will build on only 10 of the total 77 acres. “There’s enough land behind those townhouses to go deer hunting,” he said. “It’s real country.”

Petitioners reason that with two cars per unit, that will mean at least 80 new cars on Campbell Street and Glenwood Road. Campbell Street is a narrow, rural road, they said, and the new elementary school on Glenwood will mean a traffic increase as well.

Petitioners reported that the traffic study ordered by Lucier was conducted when Glenwood Road was detoured because of school construction.

Lucier said the traffic study was conducted over the course of several days.

Another concern the petitioners have is water. Calise said the state advised Lucier to form eight separate building associations in order to circumvent clean water regulations. “It’s not illegal for them to get around that, but it’s violating the spirit of the law,” she said. “The physical effect of the density of this population will be to draw upon the water table.”

Selectman Donald D’Auteuil said that the LIP is a benefit to residents because it allows the chance to have their voices heard through the zoning board.

“Without the LIP, it would be even more difficult for you,” he told petitioners. “If we didn’t sign off on the LIP, the builder could have done almost anything he wanted.”

Chairman Douglas Briggs said the workshop process through the ZBA will allow the petitioners to compromise on many issues with Lucier.

“In hindsight, maybe we should have talked to more people more intensely before we made a vote,” Selectman Louis Cornacchioli said. “But in our defense, under 40B, this goes forward no matter what. We can’t stop a 40B project from moving into town.”

In other business:

Plans to investigate regionalizing the dispatch of fire, police and ambulance services are underway, according to Fire Chief Thomas Ruchala, who has met with Hubbardston officials and will present a proposal to Barre representatives next month.